


Danganronpa SS: Splatuber Sacrifice

by Sagaci



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Splatoon
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, Fangan Ronpa, Gen, Splatubers, rating will change in future chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2020-11-02 09:08:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20694365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sagaci/pseuds/Sagaci
Summary: Sixteen of Youtube's most beloved Splatoon entertainers find themselves trapped within the Deep Sea Metro. And according to Mr. Grizz, the only way out is to get away with murder.Current rating for minor language. Rating will go up in future chapters. This is going to be DARK people.





	1. Prologue - Next Stop: Despair pt. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Make sure you follow me at http://twitter.com/SagaSagaci/ so you can participate in questions and polls that will affect the story! I'll also sometimes post random WIP lines. I also like to think I'm mildly entertaining.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Optional atmospheric music:  
https://youtu.be/KzTjThJu-FE

“...Sagaci...”

_ Nnnngh… stupid voice… let me sleep… _

“...Sagaci, get up!”

_ But I’m so cozy… _

“Sagaci this is serious! If you can hear me I need you to wake up!”

_ Sensing the urgency in this person’s voice, I blinked open my eyes to find myself curled into a ball next to a heat vent, in a similar fashion to a cat. _

“Nnnngh... Fine fine I’m awake, now what do you…” _ My voice trailed off as I started looking around where I was. _

_ I was in… a subway station? I don’t remember getting onto the subway at any point, and this didn’t look like any of the stops in the Boston subway. I also looked towards who was shaking my leg trying to get me to wake up. It was… Vic? _

“Vic? What are you doing here? Where are we?” _ I rubbed my eyes in an effort to wake myself up more. _

“Finally you’re awake! I was getting worried something bad happened to you!” _ Vic held my shoulders in a tight embrace. Though confused, I gently wrapped my arms around her as well, returning the hug. _“Timo tried waking you up like half an hour ago but you weren’t stirring! You were barely breathing!”

“Oh, sorry about that. I breathe really slowly when I’m asleep, I promise I’m okay.” _ I released my hold from Vic and scratched my head. _“Wait, did you say Timo? Octoboy’s here too?”

“I think it’d be easier if you just come with me.” _ Vic gestured to follow behind her. With nothing else to really focus on, I trailed behind her. _

“So do you know where we are?” _ I tried making small talk with Vic as she led me through a tunnel. _

“You’re not gonna believe me, but…” _ Vic nervously looked towards me. _“I think we’re somewhere in the Deep Sea Metro.”

_ I blinked in confusion. _“Vic, the Metro is a fictional place in Splatoon 2. There’s no way that’s where we are.”

“I get it I get it, I know it sounds stupid and confusing and it’s impossible.” _ Vic sighed and turned into another tunnel. _“But I’ve been hearing a lot of strange noises. Lots of weird posters. And… some familiar areas.”

“All subways look the same, Vic.”

“Look, it’ll make sense once we’re back in the train lobby, okay?” _ Vic turned into yet another tunnel, me chasing behind her. _

“Train lobby? Vic I’m really confused, you need to start-” _ My voice cut off as I saw the lobby that Vic had mentioned. _

_ It was a pretty large and well lit central passageway. There was a railway train encircling the entire area except for where me and Vic just came out. That giant train was divided into several individual carts, with all the windows blocked off so it was impossible to see what was inside. I could hear the rumbling of other subway cars in the distance, but no sign of the surface above. Waiting in the center of this area though, all huddled around a small fire someone had set, were some very familiar faces. _

“Vic…. what the hell is going on? Why is a massive chunk of the Splatuber community here…?” _ I swept my eyes over each face, noticing how everyone looked exhausted and… afraid? Afraid of what? _

_ Vic evidently wasn’t paying attention to what I had to say. _ “GUYS, SAGACI IS FINALLY AWAKE!” _ All their heads turned our way and everyone bolted towards us, grabbing me in a massive group hug. _

“Oh thank god you’re finally awake!” “Girl you’ve been asleep for AGES!” “It hasn’t been THAT long Gab, quiet.” _ So many voices filled the air, along with an aura of subtle relief. _

“Wait wait wait guys hold up a sec. Gimme some air.” _ I gently pushed away those holding me, and started taking a good look at everyone’s faces. _

_ So many of my friends were here: Skul, Gab, Crystal, Vian, Dan, Queen, Etce, Fyrus, Jay, Hacker, Octoboy, Kay, Bookie, Joanna, along with Vic and myself. That made… 16 of us total. 8 boys and 8 girls. _

_ Huh… why do those numbers sound so familiar? _

_ My train of thought was cut off when a low buzzing noise filled the air. _

"Ah… I see everyone is finally awake. We can get down to business now." _ A low groggy voice droned out over what sounded like some kind of intercom. It was familiar, a little low and gruff, but I couldn't for the life of me remember who the voice belonged to. _

"**Business?** The hell are you going on about, dude?!" _ Fyrus looked at the ceiling and started shouting out, I guess hoping he would be heard. _

"Head to the Central Hub. Don't slack off." _ I wasn't sure if the voice actually responded to Fyrus or if he was just continuing on to speak, but the raspy voice continued on. _"Follow the lights. Your assignment will be given once you have all arrived."

"Assignment? Lights? Dude stop being so cryptic and just talk like a normal person!" _ Kay called out to the void as well. _

_ As if on cue, the lights in the subway area dimmed slightly. Everything was still visible, but only barely. Instinctively I grabbed Vics arm in fear. A series of ominous red lights flickered on and trailed out of the archway, making a path to another section of the subway. _

"Man, those are some ominous red lights." _ I heard Gab speak out. _

"Thank you for the insightful comment, GG." _ Skul replied, which made me quietly snort. _

"Um… so should we go and do what that voice says?" _ Bookie called out. _

"And go wandering off into areas unknown? No thanks." _ Etce chimed in as well. He sounded fairly confident, but the slight waver in his voice told me that he too was nervous about this whole situation. _

"I don't really think we have a choice, Etce." _ Queen started walking towards the archway. _"Whoever this guy is, he probably isn't gonna let us just walk away from wherever this is."

"Besides, there's 16 of us. I'm sure we could outfight him if we need to." _ Jay started walking towards the archway as well, staying close to the red lights. _

"I think we should go." _ Dan looked over at the rest of us. _ "Everyone just stay together, alright? I don't wanna risk anyone getting lost." _ I tightened my hold on Vic, the fear of getting left behind creeping up on me. _

_ With no other real options, everyone just looked at each other and shrugged, moving towards the exit slowly. I took a look at Vic to gauge her response, and she softly nodded at me. With that affirmation, Vic and I joined the crowd following the red lights. _

_ It was eerily silent walking down the halls of the subway. The distant rumble of trains kept the air from being too quiet, but everyone was too creeped out to really talk. The lights kept following along the walls for a good 5 minutes, going through a few twists and turns, before stopping at a large opening. The ceiling was high above our heads, with the occasional pillar support dotting the mostly empty clearing. I could see that there were several pathways leading out of this central hub, but many of them were barred by thick metal gates. It seemed like only 3 entrances, including the one we just went through, were open. The only other noteworthy feature to this area was a thick stone platform in the center of the room. _

_ For some reason, a sinking feeling was beginning to form in my stomach. _

"Alright you creep, we followed the stupid lights, now show yourself!" _ Crystal balled her right hand into a tight fist at her side, yelling out into the barren area. Her other hand was too busy tightening its hold on Joanna. _

"My, aren't you a feisty one?" _ The rough voice was back again, the intercom sounds bouncing off the walls and echoing throughout the hub. _ "This is going to be very interesting."

_ Some deep clunking noises vibrated in the ground below our feet, leading up towards the stone platform. While the top was too high for any of us to see what was going on, we were able to hear heavy stones grinding against each other in what I could only guess was a hatch opening, and a figure slowly rose from the center. The sinking feeling in my stomach started churning violently as I saw a pair of small round ears poking out from the platform: one light and one dark. _

_ No… nonononononono this can't be real this can't be happening what the fuck is going on let me out get me out wake up please… _

_ It was a small bear, roughly the size of maybe a 4 year old child. Its color was split in half right down the middle: on its right was a soft white fur, but on its left was a jagged dark brown shell that looked like some kind of stained wood. The shock of realization caused my voice to suddenly burst out of my throat. _

"M-Monokuma?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Both pieces of gorgeous art were drawn by the amazingly talented https://twitter.com/BubbleAly
> 
> Go follow her on Twitter! Her art is AMAAAAZING!


	2. Prologue - Next Stop: Despair pt. 2

"Mono-what now?"  _ I saw Skul turn to me out of the corner of my eye, but I was frozen in place. _

_ No… this wasn't Monokuma… but it looked so much like him… _

"I see someone here has already figured out what's going on."  _ The bear figure spoke to us.  _ "Good. Makes my job easier."

"No… no you're not Monokuma… but then… who are you?!"  _ My mind was so spun and confused that it was difficult forming sentences. _

"Is that… Mr. Grizz?"  _ Hacker squinted her eyes towards the figure on the platform.  _ "Kinda looks like that bear statue from the Salmon Run lobby."

_ No wonder that voice sounded so familiar… _

"You're both right!"  _ The bear snickered and sat on the edge of the platform above us.  _ "Monogrizz is the name. Pleased to meet ya!"

"No no no, you can NOT be serious!"  _ I let go of Vic and started storming towards the bear.  _ "This is all some sick joke, right? You can NOT POSSIBLY be insinuating what the hell I think you're insinuating, RIGHT?" 

"Sagaci… calm down."  _ Bookie spoke out to me.  _ "I don't think being angry is going to solve anything."

"You should listen to your friend over there, girlie."  _ Monogrizz smiled at me.  _ "I think you know what'll happen if you step out of line."

_ I halted, remembering from past experience that breaking this thing probably isn't the best of ideas. Though still fuming with anger, I backed off. _

"Okay what the hell is going on, I am SO confused."  _ Fyrus ran his hands through his hair.  _ "Neither of you are making a lick of sense, so someone needs to explain."

"Once I get an explanation as to why we're down here, then I'll clarify things."  _ I turned back to Monogrizz. _ "Look, whoever you think you are, treating all of this like a game isn't funny in the slightest. And pretending to be some stupid hybrid of characters isn't going to make me anymore convinced. People are gonna know we're missing. So if you know what's good for you, let us out and we can all pretend this never happened."

"You still think this is a joke?"  _ Monogrizz narrowed his eyes at me.  _ "Your word hurt me so. After all the time I spent building this place JUST for you guys? Fame got to your head, kiddo."

_ My vision was starting to go red in anger.  _ "Let us out. Or you're going to regret it."

"I can't just let you guys go now."  _ The bear hopped off the platform and waddled towards me.  _ "You people are costing me way too much money to keep my business running. There's gonna be some talent among one of you. And I bet that person would be perfect for my business."

" **ALRIGHT THAT'S IT, ENOUGH OF YOUR CRAP." ** _ I became so blinded by fury that I started dashing towards the bear without a second thought. Monogrizz easily stepped aside of me, and I tripped and fell on something really slippery. Grimacing from the scratches on my body, I looked at what made me trip in the first place. _

_ It was a Golden Egg. Not a plush one either. A genuine one, about the size of a baseball. Its surface was sticky and slimy, a small fish creature wriggling around in the center of it. That large beady eye was staring into my very soul. Though slightly deformed from me slipping on it, its shape slowly reformed back into a perfect sphere. The creature inside wasn't quite as lucky, as its tail seemed to have been crushed slightly. It could still move a little, but the movement was a little jerky. _

_ All my anger just dissolved immediately into complete confusion.  _ "What the… what is this? Who are you? Where are we?"  _ I looked up towards Monogrizz, who was picking up the Golden Egg like a hurt child. _

"You're lucky the rules haven't been properly established, or else you might have been terminated on the spot for damaging my goods."  _ Monogrizz pet the Golden Egg slightly before it disappeared out of sight. Where it went, I had no idea.  _ "Very well, I'll tell you. Your friend over there was correct earlier. This is, in fact, the Deep Sea Metro. And it is where you will spend the rest of your lives."

"So we just magically teleported into a video game?"  _ Sounds like Crystal was just as skeptical as I was. _

"Details, details, how you got here isn't important."  _ Monogrizz was waving his paw, dismissing the question.  _ "I know you all work for me in some way shape or form. Word gets around quickly."

"So… this really is the Splatoon world?"  _ Vian stepped forward, scratching his head in thought. _

"Precisely. And as I mentioned earlier, my workforce is much too big to be able to keep running my business. So I need to figure out which one of you 16 would be the best worker for me. Someone stealthy and crafty, cunning and resourceful, doesn't mind getting their hands a little dirty."

"You want to see if we can get away with murder."  _ I finally sighed, standing back up on my feet.  _ "You'd have to be pretty clever to be able to do that, after all."

"Wait,  **WHAT? ** MURDER?!" _Vic_ _ 's voice squeaked out in disbelief.  _ "You're kidding Sagaci, there's no way that's what he meant!"

"Sagaci is correct."  _ Monogrizz nodded.  _ "You should listen to her. Seems like she's the only one of you that knows what's going on."

_ I looked at Monogrizz.  _ "The rules are still the same? Nothing contradictory?"  _ Monogrizz nodded again. I sighed.  _ "Guys… gather around me. This might get complicated to explain.

"So here's the rundown: the 16 of us are currently stuck here for the rest of our lives."  _ I started pacing back and forth, bringing up the memories of all the Danganronpa games I experienced.  _ "We're completely cut off from the outside world, and there's no way out. If we want to escape… we have to kill someone and get away with it. We hold a class trial to determine that."

_ Monogrizz stepped in after that.  _ "In the class trial, all of the  **spotless ** survivors will try to determine who the  **blackened ** is. Debate back and forth, review the case, that sort of junk. At the end, everyone casts a vote on who they think the blackened is. If the majority is correct, then the blackened will be punished and the spotless will continue to live on. But if the spotless guess wrong, the blackened walks out free and everyone ELSE is punished instead!"

"Punished?"  _ Jay spoke out.  _ "What does that mean?"

"Execution."  _ I stated bluntly.  _ "Either the killer alone is executed, or all of us get executed and the killer escapes."

"Dude that is BEYOND fucked up."  _ Fyrus put his hands on his head, probably trying to make sense out of what I'm saying.  _ "I'd rather be trapped down here forever than kill one of my friends!"

_ Everyone else seemed to murmur in agreement. _

"No, I get that, I feel the same way."  _ I sighed.  _ "It's not gonna be that easy, though. Either some motive will get introduced, or we'll be blackmailed somehow, or some other third thing."  _ I turned back to Monogrizz.  _ "So that big train with all the car windows blocked off…"

"They are your new sleeping quarters. Your bedrooms. Cabins. Dorms. Whatever you wanna call them."  _ Monogrizz shrugged.  _ "Not many places to set up beds and such in a subway, after all."

"What about food?"  _ Kay spoke out.  _ "Are you just gonna leave us here to starve?"

"The food court down the halls should be more than enough to service you all."  _ Monogrizz nodded his head towards one of the open gates out of this central hub area.  _ "There's also a convenience store down there where you'll be able to get anything else you need. You all have plenty of changes of clothes in your cabins as well. And don't ask how I know your sizes, you don't want to know."  _ Seems like Etce was about to say something, but quickly shrunk back as his question was answered. _

"So that's it? We have to kill to get out? And if we don't, you'll find a way to make us?"  _ Joanna squeezed Crystal's hand while she said that. _

"I'm sure the audience listening in is tired of all the exposition by now."  _ Monogrizz turned around in a circle, gesturing all around him.  _ "You know your assignments. So get to work. And don't disappoint!"  _ And with that, Monogrizz disappeared into the ground somehow. _

"Wait, audience?"  _ Gab squeaked out after a moment of awkward silence.  _ "We're being watched too??"

_ I sighed.  _ "Yeah, I'll explain later Gab, I just really need some time to myself to process all this."  _ Cool, great, now we know hundreds or even thousands of people are now watching our every move. Hey NERDS, I bet you can't hear my thoughts, ahahahaha! _

_ Oh. Wait. Right. _

_ Fuck. _

_ The red lights turned back on once Grizz had left, probably to show us the way back to our rooms. Feeling pretty worn from all the emotional whiplash I just went through, I started following the lights back to our rooms. _

"We should all probably find our rooms, actually."  _ I heard Vian speak behind me. I was too tired to really keep listening, so I just gave a half hearted wave and walked back to the train room to find my cart. _

_ Once I was back in the room, I headed up towards one of the cars to inspect the doors on them. It seemed to have some kind of hand scanner on it, along with a small bronze plaque above it. I pressed my hand on the scanner and heard a low buzzing noise. I tried pulling the door open, but it wouldn't budge. Guess this wasn't my car. Upon closer inspection, the plaque had something interesting on it. _

_ SHSL Cover Artist? The hell kind of name is that? I stood there confused for a moment before I heard the others come in behind me. _

"What's up, Sagaci?"  _ Hacker noticed I was looking kind of lost as she walked up to me. I motioned towards the hand scanner, which she proceeded to press her hand against like I did. A small 'click' came from the door, so I tried opening it. Unsurprisingly, the door opened.  _ "So this is my room then? Huh… SHSL Cover Artist…"  _ Hacker thought for a moment before smiling and nodding.  _ "Well I have no clue what the SHSL bit is, but being called a cover artist sounds about right to me!"  _ She shrugged towards me and walked into the car.  _ "Good luck finding your room Sagaci! I wonder what you'll be called!"  _ The girl waved at me before softly closing the door shut. _

_ Around me, all the others were inspecting cars and trying the hand scanners as well. Lots of buzzing and clicking noises filled the air as everyone went around trying to find their own rooms. Using our names would have been a lot easier than using vague talent titles, but hey, I guess it was kinda neat. I started going through the plaques as well, trying to find my own title. _

_ Prankster?  _

** _*buzz*_ **

_ Nope. Let's see… Karaoke Enthusiast? _

** _*buzz*_ **

_ Darn, that would have been a fun one. Let's try… Meme Lord? _

** _*buzz*_ **

_ Okay I didn't think that would work either, but never hurts to try. _

_ After a few more titles that didn't quite fit (what does being a Weapons Vendor even MEAN?) I finally found one that might work. Though I kinda hoped it wouldn't. _

_ The plaque said "SHSL Protagonist". _

_ I cautiously pressed my hand against the scanner. _

_ ... _

** _*click*_ **

_ REALLY?! COME ON! _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates are going to be sporadic, as I still need to do a large amount of planning for the upcoming trials. I promise I'm not abandoning this, but it might be a while before the next part is ready.


	3. Chapter 1: Total Party Knockoff - Daily Life (1/?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Monogrizz's declarations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly just a chapter with a lot of exposition. Gotta explain things for the people that aren't too familiar with the Danganronpa series. Still, for those that want to play along with this game in figuring out who the murderers are and such, it might be best to bookmark this chapter for reference!
> 
> I'm sorry it's taking so long for these chapters to come out, and I'm sorry this one has such little substance after such a long wait. I've been going through some stuff and my motivation kinda tanked really badly. I promise I'll do everything I can to not give up on this project.
> 
> Make sure to leaves kudos and comment if you want to see more! Reading comments DEFINITELY helps me to keep going.

_ My bedroom was surprisingly cozy. While I was expecting just a refurbished train car, I didn't think it would actually feel like another room. Soft brown carpeting lined the floor, with a deep mahogany wardrobe resting against the back wall and some shelves along the right wall. A matching queen sized bed frame was off to my left, along with a tasteful set of 3 train seats purposefully left in. There was another door in the back left corner of the room, which I promptly opened immediately, noting that it was a traditional frame with a doorknob. Behind the swinging door was a small bathroom, probably a quarter the size of the main room. The glass shower and porcelain toilet and sink gleamed like they were never used before, which I was glad about. Bathrooms in a train is just asking for disaster. Looking at the bed, there was a fluffy maroon comforter covering the mattress and a small blue object in the center of it. _

_ Oh boy. The E-handbook. I picked up the phone-sized electronic and swept to the right to unlock it. Immediately the screen lit up once it was unlocked. _

** _Welcome, SHSL Protagonist Sagaci. _ **

_ Lovely. A constant reminder of my title. Thanks, Grizz. _

** _Remember: The e-Handbook functions as a digital record of many things, such as the rules of the game, the name and gender of the passenger who owns it, a map of the subway and so on. It is recommended that you have it on you at all times._ **

_ Passenger? What's that referring to? The words faded out and I was greeted with the usual menus I was familiar with. I know Monogrizz said that all the rules were the same as in the games, but I opened the rules section regardless to refresh my memory. _

** _RULES_ **

_ To ensure the success of this killing game, each e-Handbook has a list of the Game Regulations given by the Conductor. Violation of these rules will result in immediate punishment. _

_ Rule 1: Violence against the Conductor is strictly forbidden. _

_ Rule 2: Littering is not allowed. _

_ Rule 3: The Conductor cannot directly interfere with the passengers. This rule is nullified if a passenger violates the rules. _

_ Rule 4: _ _ Once a murder takes place, a class trial will begin shortly thereafter. Participation is mandatory for all surviving passengers. _

_ Rule #5: Whoever is responsible for the victim's death will be labelled as the blackened. _

_ Rule #6: If the blackened is exposed during the class trial, they alone will be executed. _

_ Rule #7: If the blackened is not exposed, the remaining passengers will be executed. _

_ Rule #8: If the blackened survives the class trial, they will be forgiven for their crimes and be allowed to leave. _

_ Rule #9: The Body Discovery Announcement will play as soon as three or more people (excluding the blackened) discover a body for the first time. _

_ Rule #10: Tampering or destruction of any property without permission is expressly prohibited. This includes the surveillance cameras and monitors, as well as all locks and security systems. _

_ Rule #11: With minimal restrictions, you are free to investigate this place at your own discretion. Your actions in this regard are not limited. _

_ Rule #12: Between the hours of 10PM and 7AM is designated as “nighttime”, which will be notified on the monitors. Certain areas of the subway will be inaccessible during nighttime. _

_ Rule #13: Lending or taking an e-Handbook to another alive passenger is strictly prohibited. _

_ Rule #14: Additional rules may be added by the Conductor at any time. _

  
  


_ I slipped the E-handbook into my pocket and threw myself face first onto the bed, groaning in frustration and exhaustion. Conductor? Passengers? Is that really the best they could do? I suppose “Headmaster” isn’t exactly the best title for Monogrizz since this isn’t a school environment, plus most of us aren’t even students anymore. I guess it was kinda fitting. _

** _*Ding dong, bing bong*_ **

_ A familiar chime sounded in my room. I looked up towards the source of the noise and saw a small TV monitor in the upper corner of my room. The screen flickered on, showing Monogrizz lounging in a throne and holding a Golden Egg. _

"Ah-HEM!" _ Monogrizz spoke out. _"This is an official announcement. It is now 10PM, and nighttime is officially in effect! The entrance to the food court will be sealed off shortly, so get out before you're locked in! Now get some rest you slackers. You’ve got another big day ahead of you!"

_ 10PM already, huh? I mean we can't see outside so our sense of time is all thrown off, but it still feels like its early. Then again, most of us are used to staying up until like 2AM, so it being nighttime really means nothing to us. I doubt everyone is actually going to go to sleep now though, so I should probably check in on everyone before I turn in for the night. _

_ When I went outside, there was a handful of people standing around talking, but most everyone weren't there. Probably still exploring their rooms. The fire that was in the center of the room earlier had burned down, with nothing but some orange glowing embers still remaining. Upon closer inspection, this looked like it was a bonfire pit of sorts. Neat. _

"Oh Sagaci, you found your room!" _ Gab waved over to me with a smile, gesturing me to approach the few people around the firepit. _"What name did you get?"

_ I took a deep breath and chuckled. _"Protagonist."

"Pffft, woooow." _ Gab sincerely tried to act more empathetic but ended up giggling with me. _"That's quite a literal name you got."

"What did you end up getting?"

"Oh, I got the Prankster room!" _ Gab pointed to one of the cars that I had tried earlier. _

"Makes sense. You do have a knack for making great jokes."

_ Vic was also one of the others around the dying campfire. _"Mine ended up being Weapons Vendor, but what does that even mean? I’ve never touched a gun in my life!"

"Oh! Maybe it's because of all those advertisements you do for Splatoon weapons!" _ Gab snapped his fingers in confidence, to which Vic thought for a moment before nodding her head in agreement. _

"I'll give you three guesses which one Timo was." _ Vic gestured her head towards Octoboy, who was crouched by the embers and staring into the orange glow of them. _

"If Gab got Prankster… does that make him the Meme Lord?" _ I thought for a moment if that made sense, but yeah it probably did. He kinda helped create the whole 'Danana' meme thing and the bit with me being tired all the time. _

_ Octoboy looked up at his title being called out and softly nodded before returning his gaze back to the nearly burnt out fire in front of him. _

"Have you guys looked over your e-Handbooks yet?" _ I was curious if anyone else had taken a peek like I had. _"I can help if you have any questions about it."

"Actually yeah, if you don't mind." _ Vic came over to me and pulled out her e-Handbook, scrolling over to the rules. _"What in the world is the Conductor and the Passengers? Is that referring to us?"

"I think that's the case." _ I nodded. _"In the original Danganronpa games, Monokuma referred to himself as the Headmaster, and the participants the Students. I suppose Conductor and Passengers are like the subway-train versions of that."

"Does that have anything to do with that SHSL title?"

"Kinda. SHSL is short for Super High School Level. All of the original participants were known for being extremely proficient in some aspect of life, known as their Talent. Some were SHSL Swimmers, Cosplayers, Detectives, Pianists, that sort of thing."

"But… most of us aren't in high school. Why would we have a high school title?"

"Probably to simplify things to the audience." _ I looked around the sleeping chamber to find a surveillance camera of some kind. Sure enough, resting just below one of the monitors on the pillars, was a camera tracking our movements. I pointed Vic's line of sight towards said camera. _"This whole thing is being broadcasted somewhere. I don't know to who or where, but we're being watched 24/7. Get used to it."

"Also, this rule here…" _ Vic scrolled to Rule #3. _"What does it mean by saying he's not allowed to interfere with us?"

"Monogrizz can't interrupt anything we do or alter anything we make." _ I tried to explain the best I could, but that rule was always a little vague. _"So he can't rearrange crime scenes or hide evidence from us. It also means that you don't have to worry about Grizz killing anyone either."

"That's a relief." _ Vic sighed and ran her hands through her hair. _"Why are all of these stupid rules in place anyways? Why put restrictions and have protocols if he just wants us dead?"

_ I shrugged. _"Ultimately all of this is being done to entertain someone. Who that someone is, I have no idea. But the rules keep things interesting. Prevents it from just being a mindless slaughter fest."

"Well that's… good?" _ Clearly this was disturbing to Vic, because of course it's messed up. I'm just used to the rules by now. But hopefully knowing that we weren't free to do whatever we wanted would be a bit more comforting to people. _

_ I sighed. _ "I don't know about you, but honestly I need sleep badly. I've still gotta explain all of this to the others as well." _ Groggily, I swept my eyes over all the train cars. The lights inside several cars had gone dark, but there were still a few yellow-lit ones. _"I'll save that for tomorrow though. I'm really not in the mood to drag everyone back out here."

_ Timo slowly rose from his place in front of the fire pit, gave a small wave, and headed back to his car. With all the embers safely burnt out and no longer flowing, I gave Vic and Gab goodnight hugs before retiring to my own car. _

_ The bed was… actually quite comfy. It had a little bit of stiffness to it, but it felt like one of those TempurPedic mattresses I have back at home. And I sleep great on those. The rich maroon comforter had a nice weight to it, and crawling under it made me feel like I was being constantly hugged. I set my e-Handbook off to the side and shut my light off. _

_ The mysteries of this place can wait until tomorrow. For now, sleep time. _

* * *

**MONO**<strike>KUMA</strike> ** GRIZZ THEATER**

** _My, everyone sure is taking their sweet old time adjusting to the situation._ **

** _It's been a whole day already and I haven't seen a flicker of murderous intent!_ **

** _Of course, I know it's only been a day. The passage of time down here is pretty messed up._ **

** _I wouldn't be surprised if some of my passengers thought it's been nearly three months since they were trapped here!_ **

** _Hmm... maybe thats a little too on-the-nose..._ **

** _But oh well. This slow pace gives me time to set up some fun surprises for everyone!_ **

** _Puhuhuhu... Please look forward to it, readers!_ **


	4. Chapter 1: Total Party Knockoff - Daily Life (2/?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twitter decided to split this part up into a shorter chapter and a longer chapter afterwards. So if you feel like this is a little short, don't worry, there's plenty more coming up later!

_ Huh… am I dreaming? I mean… I'm floating in an empty void with no memory of how I got here, so… yeah, probably dreaming. Then again that's just life in general, so…. _

_ Okay, slow down a sec. Am I me? Let's see… go through my memories... _

_ My name's Sagaci. Well, of course that's not my REAL name, that's just an alias. My real name isn't important here. I'm part of a group of personalities on YouTube primarily known for playing a game called Splatoon. Because of this, we are called "Splatubers". Cute name. While I don't make my own content often, I very frequently show up in other people's content, so people just label me as one of them. I also really like Danganronpa. And not like in a super meta in-game sense, I mean like out in the real world the actual game series developed by Spike Chunsoft. Relax people, it’s not that kind of story. _

_ I like to think I'm a pretty entertaining person. I tend to have a dry, sarcastic sense of humor that really amps up whenever I have others to bounce off of. When I'm alone I actually tend to be a bit reserved and quiet. My friends bring out the best in me. _

_ That's who the other 15 people trapped here are. Most of them I've known and talked to for about 2 years now, and each of them are wonderful in their own ways. And there's even more people that aren't here that are just as awesome. People like Vasko, Callie, Fishy, Kaylee… A really selfish part of me wishes they were here, but overall I'm glad they're safe on the surface. At least I hope they’re safe. _

_ Things are… getting fuzzy… I can feel a heavy weight on my body… _

* * *

_ ***ding dong, bing bong*** _

_ A sharp ring startled me out of my sleep in my comfy bed. I groaned and rolled over to take a look at the monitor. Of course it was Monogrizz. _

"Ah-HEM!" _ Monogrizz spoke out. _"This is your conductor speaking. It is now 7AM, and nighttime is now over! The entrance to the food court has been opened as well, so bottoms up you bottom feeders! Here's to another day of making the world a better place!"

_ Oh that's rich. 'Making the world a better place'? He acts like we actually work for him. If he seriously expects us to collect Salmon Eggs, he has no idea how the real world works. We can't respawn, moron. That's why this whole killing game is an issue in the first place! _

_ I gotta admit though, I'd be lying if I said I felt restless. That weighted blanket really helped me sleep soundly throughout the night, and I actually feel quite refreshed. A little groggy from just waking up sure, but otherwise fine. I'm curious about what that food court looks like though, so I better get dressed and head on out. _

_ After a quick shower and pocketing my e-Handbook, I stepped out of my train car and stretched my arms over my head, hearing my back crack in a few places. The air was a touch on the chilly side, but otherwise was a rather comfortable temperature. I noticed that I wasn't the only one awake though. Sitting on the rim of the firepit was Crystal and Skul, talking to each other. It seems they didn't notice me stepping out of my car, so I walked over to them and waved. _

"Mornin' you two." _ I hated how casual that sounded when this situation is kind of terrifying. _

"Hey Sagaci." _ Skul waved back. _"Did you get any sleep last night?"

"I actually did. I have a weighted blanket that hugged me all night."

_ Crystal snickered at my choice of words. _"Glad you could sleep. Me and Skul… well… we didn't do much sleeping."

"Too worried about the situation?"

_ Skul nodded. _"It's amazing how comfortable you are with all of this considering how you reacted last night."

"I'm just familiar with what's going on. Believe me you two, I'm just as terrified as everyone else is. Maybe even more so."

"What makes you say that?" _ A loud growl came from Skul's stomach, which made me quietly snort. _

"I'll explain later. For now, maybe we should go to the food court and see what we're working with."

"You two go ahead, I'm gonna wait for Joanna to wake up." _ Crystal gazed into the direction of one of the other cars, presumably Joanna's. Me and Skul looked at each other and shrugged before exiting the sleeper car area. _

_ I took my e-Handbook out of my pocket and pulled up the map of the subway. A lot of sections were grayed out, presumably areas we can't access yet. I scanned the map for where the food court was, and found out it was just a short distance away from the sleeper cars. Either it was so dark yesterday that I didn't see the entrance, or I was so brain-fried that it just flat out didn't register to me. Both were equally plausible. I started walking towards the food court, Skul following me closely behind. _

"So what title did you get?" _ I broke the awkward silence with Skul. _

"SHSL Pokemon Trainer. Pretty self explanatory." _ Skul scratched the back of his head. _"I mean the only other thing people care about with me is Splatoon, so it could've been either. What about you?"

"Protagonist."

_ Skul snorted. _"Figures. Seems like you know what's going on here."

"I mean… kinda?" _ Up ahead I could see a neon sign lighting up depicting images of various foods like burgers and popcorn, which I could only presume lead to the food court. _"There's a lot of similarities with this and the Danganronpa games, but something still feels kinda… off."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't put my finger on it. If I knew I'd tell you, but I honestly have no idea." _ Skul and I stopped walking now that we were in the food court, and took a look around. _

_ In the center of the room was a handful of tables. Some were designed with 2 people seating in mind, and some with 4 people sitting. Various metal chairs were scattered throughout the room, looking almost abandoned. Against the walls were countless shops, each one having a familiar neon sign above it to indicate what food it served. The counters were empty save for a touch screen panel at the place where the register should have been. _

“Guess it’s a self serve kind of thing?” _ I pondered out loud. The food situation was never really addressed in the games, whether they cooked their own stuff or what not. Guess it made sense though: none of us were professional chefs, so we’d end up making the same thing over and over and getting sick of it fairly quickly. _

“Oh hey, there’s even a Wendy’s here!” _ Skul pointed over to one of the shops, the familiar red pigtails proudly on display. _"At least they've got good taste."

"Are there other fast food places around?” _ If there was a Wendy’s, I mean who knows… I looked around for a quick second before I smiled at a familiar blue sign. _ “DUDE, iHop is here!” _ I gleefully grabbed the sleeve of Skul’s t-shirt and dragged him over to the pancake house’s counter, giggling as I swiped through all the menu options. _ “Duuuuuuude they’ve got EVERYTHING! Even the seasonal items!” _ Maybe being down here wouldn’t be so bad after all. Skul was saying something in the background, but I was too busy looking through my options to really listen to him. He walked away at some point before I finally decided on a fluffy stack of chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. As I was waiting for my breakfast to come out, I saw a few more people enter through the food court entrance. _

_ Fyrus and Queen were stretching their arms over their heads, looking fairly awake. Right… they’re not on EST like most of the rest of us, so of course they’d be awake before we are. Trailing behind them were Failboat and Gab talking to each other, with Bookie and Kay trailing not too far behind them. _

“Hey guys, you gotta come check this place out!” _ I waved over to the group of people incoming, giddily explaining how the food court worked. Before long, everyone else had filed into the food court, getting their own food from various stands. Once everyone had their food and sat down somewhere, I stepped on top of a table and clapped my hands together to get everyone’s attention. _

“OKAY guys.” _ I knew I had to act as the de facto leader here, since most everyone else was probably clueless on everything. _ “So I know this situation seems really grim and kind of horrifying,” _ I grimaced at the thought of what might happen to everyone, but quickly shook the thought aside. _“...but everything is gonna be okay! Have you guys read through your e-Handbooks yet?"

_ Some of my friends nodded in agreement, while others silently pulled out the pocket sized computers in mute confusion. _"That's okay. It can be kinda overwhelming at first, but I promise as long as everyone stays calm and doesn't give into temptation, I know we can find a way for all of us to escape. Until then, we should probably start exploring our surroundings and get a feel for the layout of the metro. Just play along with whatever Monogrizz has in store for the time being. He can't hurt any of you, and he's not gonna break any of the rules he's set up.

"You probably noticed by now, but it seems like everyone has a title assigned to them. I wouldn’t really worry too much about that, but maybe try to learn everyone’s titles just so we know where our rooms are. I’m the SHSL Protagonist-” _ Some quiet snickers interrupted my speech. I smiled and rolled my eyes with playful exasperation. _ “-Yeah yeah I know it’s funny, get it all out of your system. So the universe decided that I’m the protagonist, probably because I’m the most familiar with what’s going on. If you guys ever feel worried or confused or just need to talk to someone about anything, just look for my car okay? I’ll do everything I can to help.” _ Everyone nodded in confirmation. _

_ I sighed. _ "OKAY, well I don't know about y'all but I'm starving soooo let's eat!" _ I hopped off the table and started digging into my breakfast. Everything was perfectly cooked exactly how I like it, and I spaced out in the serene bliss of the moment. _

_ I looked around the food court. Seemed like everyone else was enjoying their food as well, though I could see the apprehension on some of their faces. That's okay. It felt a little weird being the only one who was totally comfortable with all of this, but I knew it was only because I know what to expect. Any normal person would be horrified being kidnapped like this, but it seems like everyone is mostly remaining calm, which was good. I was the first to finish eating, so I put my dishes on one of the trash containers and headed back to my car, completely lost in thought. _

_ As for how I'm gonna prevent the murders from happening… I honestly have no clue where to start. I have no idea what kind of dirt Monogrizz might have on all of us, but at least we have an advantage the games never had: we know each other. I trust everyone here completely. Maybe if I get closer to everyone, it'll be easier to keep everyone feeling secure. Yeah, that's what I'm gonna do! _

_ But uh… maybe I should wait a while for everyone to finish eating. I can chill in my room for a while, no problem. _

_ I'm sure we've got plenty of free time to spare, after all. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first Free Time Events are coming up next! And make sure to follow me at http://twitter.com/SagaSagaci for updates and general silliness.
> 
> Also, fun fact: "Here's to another day of making the world a better place!" refers back to a line Grizz says when you enter Grizzco for the first time ("Welcome to Grizzco Industries. I'm Mr. Grizz. Here at Grizzco, we're tryin' to make the world a better place, see?")


	5. Chapter 1: Total Party Knockoff - Daily Life (Free Time)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first two Free Time Events, as determined by Twitter!

_ Everyone's probably done eating by now. I should look around and talk with some people. Where to start… _

**FTE - Vian 1**

_ I decided to go for a walk. As I was traversing around, I spotted Vian in the food court, so I walked over to him and said hi. _

"Man, now that I know we're actually stuck down here, this place isn't nearly as cool as I originally thought it was." _ Vian ran his fingers through his hair, clearly unsettled by our whole situation. _

"Yeah, it's pretty unnerving."  _ I tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear.  _ "What title did you end up getting?”

“Rap Artist.”  _ He scratched his neck.  _ “I mean I’m not even that great but alright.”

“I mean to be fair, you’re the most successful rapper out of all of us probably. And you  ** _are_ ** good, so hush. Anyways, I was gonna scope the metro and see what we’re working with here. Do you wanna tag along? I could use another set of eyes.”

_ Vian thought for a moment and nodded.  _ "Sure. Beats worrying by myself."

_ Vian and I spent some time exploring the subway. I feel like our friendship grew a little. _

"Man, I'm just confused."  _ We walked back to the food court and Vian sat down in one of the chairs, cupping his chin in thought. _

"About what?" _ I sat down across from him, crossing my right leg over my knee. _

"Why did Mr. Grizz pick the 16 of us? He must have thousands of employees, definitely a lot more efficient than any of us."

_ I playfully pouted. _ "You saying I'm bad at my job?"

_ Vian chuckled.  _ “Not like that. Like… if Mr. Grizz only wants the absolute best, why aren't his best employees competing? We're entertainers, not workers."

_ Hm… Vian makes a good point.  _ "Maybe he's trying to weed out the weakest links? Why get rid of good workers when he has to pay thousands of worse employees?"

"Well again, why the 16 of us? Sure we're not pros, but we aren't beginners either. We're fairly competent."

"Gee, thanks for the passing marks." _ I sarcastically said, chuckling and then sighing.  _ "I dunno man. I wish I had an explanation, but this is beyond my knowledge of what typically happens."

"Yeah, I guess the ‘why’ isn't really too important anymore anyways. All that matters is getting out of here alive."

"I'm sure there's an opening or a loophole somewhere. I know we'll be okay."  _ I stood up and walked next to Vian, lightly placing my hand on his shoulder with a gentle smile.  _ "All of us, we'll all get through this."

**BOND OBTAINED. CURRENT LEVEL: 1**

_ After I parted ways with Vian, I headed back to my car. _

* * *

_ Looks like I've still got some free time. I wonder who else is around. _

**FTE - Octoboy 1**

_ After wandering for a bit, I spotted Octoboy fiddling with his camera. _

"YO, TIMO!" _ I yelled, causing him to jump slightly from being startled. He turned his head and glared at me. _

"Oh, were you concentrating on something?" _ Timo raised an eyebrow in frustration and nodded.  _ "Sorry. I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out for a little bit."

_ Though still looking a bit annoyed, he thought for a moment before shrugging in agreement. _

"Nice. I wanna go to the Central Hub and take a look at those gates. Maybe there's a way we can unlock em."  _ Timo gave me two thumbs up before gesturing me to lead the way. _

_ Octoboy and I tried in vain to open the gates. Despite our failure, I feel like our friendship grew a little. _

"Have you been using your camera a lot?" _ Giving up on breaking out, I noticed Timo had gone back to fiddling with his camera. _

_ Timo nodded and held the camera towards me. I gingerly took it from his hands and started scrolling through the photos. _

"Is that where you woke up?"  _ I tilted the screen towards Timo, showing him a picture of a dark corner with some tattered rope in it. He shook his head yes again.  _ "Why did you photograph it?"

_ He tapped a finger on his temple. _

"You think it's something we'll need to remember later?"  _ Another shrug. I started browsing through the pictures again.  _ "Eh, guess it can't hurt to document everything. Maybe later on it'll help to- HANG ON A SEC."

_ I stopped at a photo of my unconscious body sleeping on the ground and shoved it to Timo's face.  _ “WHY did you take a picture of me while I was knocked out?"

_ Timo snorted. I glared at him. _

"There could have been something seriously wrong with me! I coulda had a concussion or something!" _ Timo raised one of his eyebrows and gestured his hand up and down at me.  _ "Well yeah we know I'm fine NOW but you didn't know that earlier!" _ He smirked and shrugged again. I rolled my eyes and groaned. _ "Look, I know you're trying to keep the mood light here, and I appreciate that, but maybe let's not take pictures of girls when they're sleeping okay? Or anyone else sleeping for that matter. 'S a little creepy."

_ Timo got the hint and hung his head in apology.  _

"Eh, no harm no foul."  _ I gave Timo his camera back.  _ "Just watch where you point that thing alright?"

_ We both chuckled and parted ways. _

**BOND OBTAINED. CURRENT LEVEL: 1**

_ I tried to forget about the photo Timo took as I headed back to my car. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make sure you follow me at http://twitter.com/SagaSagaci so you can vote on who gets to go next. Characters with maxed out bonds will get a bonus chapter at the end of the series. But be fast! If a character dies before their bond can be maxed, that bonus chapter is locked away for good!


	6. Chapter 1: Total Party Knockoff - Daily Life (3/?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important notes at the end, please take the time to read them.

***knock knock knock***

_ Not too soon after I had returned from my free time, I heard somebody knocking on my door. Remembering that I told everyone what my title was, I went over to my door and answered it. _

“Hey Sagaci.”  _ I was a bit surprised to see Etce standing at my door.  _ “You got a sec to talk?”

“Of course, what’s up?”  _ I stepped out of my car and slid the door shut behind me, walking towards the fire pit.  _

“So you said you know what’s going on here?”

“Kind of. The situation we’re in is fairly similar to the Danganronpa games I like to play.”

“So all that talk about, like… murders and stuff…?”

_ I sighed and grasped my arm, looking off to the side.  _ “Yeah that’s a thing. And I honestly have no idea if that’s what’s going to happen to all of us. I trust everyone here of course, but there’s no telling what kind of motives are gonna be thrown our way.”  _ I started gathering the ashes of last night’s fire in an attempt to begin another one.  _

“I just…”  _ Etce slid to the floor, his back against the fire pit.  _ “This can’t be real. There’s no way this is real. I can’t die here, I just can’t…”

_ I paused and kneeled down next to Etce.  _ “Hey, shhh, no one is going to die. We all know each other, and we all trust each other.”  _ Trying to divert the topic, I realized I didn’t know what Etce’s title was yet.  _ “What title did you end up getting?”

“Apparently Grizz thinks I’m the Archenemy.”

_ I snorted.  _ “Okay, you can’t deny that that’s kinda fitting though. You’ve got a great anime villain voice.”  _ My comment made Etce chuckle, which eased my worries a bit.  _ “I dunno how efficient of an archenemy you’d actually be though. There’s no secrets between anyone here to take advantage of. Besides… somebody getting hurt isn’t what's really worrying me.”

“What is it then?”

“Well... someone had to have set all this stuff up. Someone who knows all of us and knows our relationships to one another. I just don’t have the faintest idea who it could be.”  _ I finally realized what has been bothering me for a while now. _

_ Someone here is the Mastermind. Someone among us set all this up. _

“Wouldn’t it be that teddy bear version of Grizz?”

“Nah, that’s not real. That thing is basically just a puppet for whoever is controlling it. As for WHO is controlling it… I’ve got no clue.”  _ I kept the bit about the Mastermind to myself for the time being. All it would do now is cause panic and distrust among us all. My only option is to just play dumb for the time being and hope nobody catches on. If no one has caught on already, that is. _

_ A Mastermind among us... it… it couldn’t be Etce, could it? I mean… the game decided he’d be the Archenemy, after all. Well… no, that’s a little too obvious. It’s never that obvious in the games. Besides, whoever set this up must have intricate knowledge of how the series works. I know I’m not the ONLY one aware of Danganronpa, but… as far as I know, nobody here knows it as well as I do. What in the world is going on?! _

“So… what do we do now?”  _ Etce speaking stopped my train of thought. _

_ I shook my head quickly to clear my thoughts.  _ “Well like I said during breakfast, maybe we should take the time to investigate the metro.”  _ I pulled up a map of the subway on my e-Handbook.  _ “I did a little bit of exploring earlier but not much in depth. We should all split up and check different areas. This place looks massive.”

“Guess there’s not much else to do, huh? I’ll go round everyone up.”  _ I continued to try to light the embers on fire as Etce left to gather everyone here.  _

_ Monogrizz said that we were in the Deep Sea Metro in the Splatoon world… but is that even possible? I mean most people here kinda look like humanized versions of our Splatoon characters, but then there’s the few of us that look closer to our real-world counterparts. Most notably, Fyrus Dan and Jay all looked pretty normal. Did we all look like what we were most recognized as? I guess that would make sense. _

_ But… if that’s true… where in the world are we? _

* * *

“Our space is pretty limited right now, so there’s no need for anyone to have to split off on their own.”  _ Everyone had gathered around the bonfire I had started, either sitting or standing or leaning against one of the cars nearby. I coughed from some of the smoke getting in my lungs as I was explaining what I wanted to do.  _ “It’s probably best that we stay in groups for now. Even if the e-Handbooks can track where we are, it’s not a good idea to be by ourselves if we can help it.”

“I’ll take the Failing Four”  _ Dan stood up and put his e-Handbook in his back pocket.  _ “I think all 4 of us kinda need some time to take it all in anyways.”  _ Fyrus, Jay, and Gab all walked up to Dan. _

“I’ll stick with my son.”  _ Etce flung an arm around Vian, smirking. Vian smiled as well, rolling his eyes in the process.  _ “You too Octoboy, you’re responsible for this too.”

“Hey Jo-anna, you wanna join me?”  _ Queen smiled and waved the girl over to her. _ “I wanna gossip!”

“Oooo gossip!” “I want in!”  _ Vic and Hacker chimed in as well, following closely behind the other two girls. _

“In that case, mind if you tag along with me Crystal? I trust you the most.”  _ I looked over to Crystal, who gave me two thumbs up. _

“Guess I’ll stick with Skul and Bookie then!”  _ Kay nodded, looking at the other two.  _ “As long as you guys don’t mind.”  _ They both smiled and nodded. _

_ With everyone sorted out amongst themselves, it seemed like everyone was clearing out to go explore our surroundings. I motioned for Crystal to follow me as we all parted ways to go investigate the metro. _

“Man, feels like it’s been forever since we talked just the two of us.”  _ I sighed and scrolled through the map on my e-Handbook, trying to figure out where we should go. _

“Tell me about it.”  _ Crystal peeked over at my e-Handbook.  _ “So what are your protagonist senses telling you right now?”

_ I snorted.  _ “Well protags go everywhere. But that reminds me, what title did you end up getting?”

“Dynamo Specialist.”  _ Crystal chuckled.  _ “Honestly, was anyone expecting anything else?”

"Fair enough." _I laughed as well._ "But yeah, we might as well just wander around everywhere. Let’s… start with the first aid station? I’m interested to see how well stocked it is.”

_ Crystal and I headed ove r to the first aid station, j ust off to the side of the Central Hub. Stepping inside, it was clear that it was heavily renovated. There were two patient beds off to the left, each with their own privacy curtains. Various machines were placed next to the beds as well, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what they did. Along the back wall were deep mahogany cabinets hanging above a stainless steel sink, which came with an eye wash station of all things. Inside the cabinets were various types of medicines and first aid supplies: NSAIDS, vitamins, ACE bandages, normal bandages, splints, along with various vials of liquids that I didn’t recognize the names of. One cabinet to the very right had a rather specific set of tools: rubber tourniquets, disposable needles, syringes, gauze, alcohol swabs, and a lot more. It was all equipment that was needed to do phlebotomy stuff like drawing blood. I grimaced at the thought as I closed the door on the cupboard. _

“Man this place is really decked out.”  _ Crystal noted, running her hand along one of the beds.  _ “This feels less like a first aid station and more like a doctor’s office.”

“I guess we need to be prepared for anything if we’re gonna be stuck down here.”  _ I crouched down and opened a small refrigerator beneath a desk on the right wall.  _ “OH YEP, definitely not a normal first aid station.”  _ Inside the fridge was a number of plastic bags filled with blood, all very clearly labelled with blood types. A number of very specific medicines were in there as well, insulin being one of the few I recognized. _

_ There were a few bottles of toxic chemicals behind the blood bags as well, but I decidedly ignored those. _

“Who would even treat us? Grizz?”  _ Crystal scanned across the desk _

“Maybe? Though worst case scenario I’d be able to help with IV’s and stuff. I enrolled in a phlebotomy program a while ago, so I know how to poke people with needles. It wasn’t a good fit for me though, so I never got certified.”

“In an emergency like this, I’ll take what I can get.”  _ Crystal glanced over a shelf that was above the desk, when something caught her eye.  _ “Hey Sagaci. Check this out. There's a cabinet here with your name on it.”

_ I looked over to Crystal, and sure enough there was, infact, a small cabinet with my name on it. There were a few other cabinets as well with other peoples names, but I beelined towards mine. It seemed like it had a fingerprint scanner on it, kinda like the hand scanners on our sleeper cars, so I pressed my thumb against it. A small ‘click’ was heard and I opened the cabinet to see what was inside. I smiled and sighed with relief. _

“It’s my daily meds. Thank goodness, I was worried about that.”  _ I took the pill organizer out of the cabinet, noting that there was only one day’s worth of pills in the sections.  _

“I mean  _ duh! _ ”  _ A growling voice was heard behind us, and I turned around to see that Monogrizz had appeared from somewhere, laying down on one of the beds.  _ “It’d be a real bore if you guys were to die off because you weren’t healthy. There’s no drama! No excitement! No mystery!”

“So why is there only a day’s worth in here then?”

“We can’t have you overdosing yourselves either. No taking the easy way out!”  _ Monogrizz hopped off the bed and waddled over to where me and Crystal were standing.  _ “The pills will refill daily, so relax, you’re not gonna run short.”

“I don’t think anyone here is so desperate to weaponize something that’s supposed to help them.”  _ Crystal tightened the hair tie keeping her ponytail up.  _

“You’d be surprised. Still, you gotta try harder than that, small frys!”  _ And with that, Monogrizz disappeared back into the floor. _

“So if we have any medical related issues, we can come here. Good to know.”  _ I pulled my e-Handbook back out and scanned the map.  _ “Where should we check next?”

“Is that a gift shop?”  _ Crystal squinted her eyes at one of the rooms on the map.  _ “Why would an underground subway have a gift shop?”

“Some big cities have them. I’ve seen it before, they carry local souvenirs and stuff.”  _ I noted where the gift shop was and saw that Skul, Bookie and Kay were around that area.  _ “Wanna take a look?”

_ The gift shop wasn’t too far away from the first aid station. It was a really small room, covered corner to corner with various toys and goodies, along with some tacky decorations hanging from the ceiling. Souvenirs from all around the world were littered about, from Shibuya and Boston to Moscow and more. In the back of the room was a massive gashapon machine stretching from the floor to the ceiling. Inside the glass case, I could see it was filled to the brim with hundreds of capsules of all sizes, solidly opaque in several colors to hide the identity of the prizes inside. A big trash bin sat next to the device. _

_ Welcome back, MonoMono Machine. _

“Hey guys, how’s the search?”  _ Kay walked up behind me and Crystal and leaned off to the side.  _ “This place is really cool!”

“That vending machine over there has some really sick stuff. Check it out!”  _ Bookie held up two items in her hands: in one was a set of wired headphones, and the other was a box with a PVC inkling figure inside.  _ “If there’s headphones in there, I’m really hoping that there’s something to listen to them with too!”

“Where did you guys get the money to use it?”  _ Crystal turned out her pockets.  _ “I didn’t have my wallet when I woke up.”

“There are coins all over the place in hidden spots.”  _ Skul held up two coins between his fingers.  _ “Why don’t you guys give it a shot? We’re gonna go hunt for more coins.”

_ Crystal and I both thanked Skul as we each took a coin. Crystal gestured for me to use the gashapon machine first, so I put my coin in and turned the knob. After some clunking noises, a pale pink capsule slightly larger than my spread hand rolled out of the machine. I popped it open and found a soft white unicorn plushie, curled in on itself to fit inside the plastic device. I pulled the plush out and hugged it as I threw the empty capsule into the large trash can. This guy will be nice to sleep with. _

_ Crystal used the machine after I stepped aside, and out came a bright red capsule, about the same size as mine was. She popped it open to find a bag of coffee beans, of all things.  _

“Ah yes, coffee beans.”  _ Crystal weighed the bag in her hand.  _ “A nutritious part of a balanced diet. What good are these without a grinder and a coffee machine anyways?”

“Maybe those are in the vending machine too? I’ve seen some pretty weird stuff come out of these things.”  _ I shrugged and tucked the unicorn under my arm.  _ “This machine will definitely be useful to keep everyone’s spirits up at least.”

“Fair enough.”  _ Crystal pulled out her e-Handbook and scanned the map.  _ “Looks like Etce’s group is searching the security office right now. Wanna head there next?”

_ I nodded and walked down the hall to where the trio was investigating. The security office had stayed pretty similar to what I imagined a typical subway security office looked like. Octoboy was sitting in a black leather spinning chair in front of an L shaped desk, with several monitors and a keyboard scattered across it that he was examining. More monitors were mounted above the desk as well. A steel filing cabinet with 2 drawers was sitting next to the L desk, which Vian was currently ruffling through. On the other side of the room was a wooden coat rack mounted to the wall, with a few security jackets hanging from the metal hooks. Etce was currently trying on one of the coats for some reason. _

“You know, based off of what I’ve seen so far, I’m actually kinda disappointed.”  _ Crystal’s eyes wandered across the room.  _ “This is so… normal.”

“Vian, whatcha looking through?”  _ I peeked over Vian’s shoulder at the papers in the filing cabinet.  _ “Find anything interesting?”

“Not really.”  _ Vian pulled out one of the files and peeked through a few pages.  _ “It seems like these are all old security files from before the subway got... uh… renovated?” 

“Anything about where the heck this place is?”  _ Etce called out, twirling back and forth with the security guard jacket on.  _

“Nothing yet, but I’ll keep looking.”  _ Vian put the file back and started leafing through more folders.  _ “Find anything out with the cameras, Octoboy?”

_ Octoboy nodded and hit a couple of keys on the keyboard, pointing to one of the monitors. They were all displaying different areas of the subway, quite possibly originating from the security cameras littered throughout the place. I could see the image move slightly back and forth. Seems like we can somewhat control the cameras here. _

“Is there a way to turn them off?”  _ Crystal wondered. Octoboy shook his head no, before pausing slightly, tilting his head, and shrugging his shoulders. Of course he didn't know, we haven’t been searching for too long yet anyways. _

“Seems like that’s about everything that’s in here.”  _ I sighed and took out my e-Handbook again, looking for more places to search.  _ “Where to next?”

“Looks like TFF is staking out at the convenience store.”  _ Crystal squinted at her own map, pointing to where the quartet was located on mine.  _

“I’m almost scared to see what they found, but might as well check it out too.”  _ I stepped out and waved to the trio of boys.  _ “Let us know later if you find something, okay?”  _ Vian and Octoboy nodded, as Etce took off the jacket and waved back at me. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This project is going to be on indefinite hiatus. Just all my passion for it is gone, it feels like I'm putting a ton of energy into something that people really aren't interested in. Plus some issues going on with me health wise is preventing me from giving it my all when I write this story. I just feel icky and rotten about all of this. Sorry if anyone was actually looking forward to this.


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